strong convergence hypothesis

The hypothesis that no matter what order or path a culture takes in their development of technology, as they continue to advance further and further along, they will all eventually converge to a certain "state", with regards to the technology available, the method of living, and such. The actual state that represents the point of convergence is not that relevant to the hypothesis, just that there is such a point.

The concept behind this hypothesis is that the laws of physics in this universe cannot be violated, and that as technology is developed and improved, is is quite possible that they will find that there are certain processes and methods will be the most efficent, because of those laws, and that eventually they will be achieved. Also, that even if technologies are developed in varying orders among different cultures/civilizations, that developments may make up for anything "missed" along the line. (Note that technically there's no reason to restrict the "rules" to the laws of physics in this universe. If it is possible to leave this universe, there may be laws of physics above that guide the convergence - restricting the comment to this universe was an arbitrary simplification to get the point across.)

As there's more to a culture/civilization than technology, this hypothesis also takes into account the beliefs and such, suggesting those will also eventually converge. That each society will eventually start living for the same reasons, following the same principles, and the like. This is a bit tougher to handle than the convergence of technology, but still something to consider.